Using Diet to Balance the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems – Part 2 of 3

INTRODUCTION

Pour on the hot sauce! I think it is also harder for their body to eliminate toxins quickly. Toxins are very much a factor for many people, although the relationship to SNS dominance is a little less clear. Multi-layered regulation of intestinal antimicrobial defense. Excessive release of inflammatory mediators following activation of inflammatory cells by bacterial products is amongst other pathways controlled by the central nervous system.

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All traditional diets included raw foods — and fermented foods were usually on the menu too. Fortunately, there have been some very intelligent people who have dedicated a large proportion of their lives to working out some of the reasons why certain people thrive on some diets and sicken on others — and, just as importantly, how to determine what sort of diet will suit an individual. Gonzales succinctly explains the functions of these two divisions of the ANS, and how Frances Pottenger Senior investigated the effects of nutrient supplemental on the ANS.

He found that potassium stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system — so it can also be helpful for people who are sympathetic dominant. People who have extreme sympathetic dominance, Dr. Gonzalez says, benefit from diets that are largely raw fruit and vegetables which conveniently and naturally provide large amounts of potassium and magnesium. William Kelley — who cured himself of pancreatic cancer was a prime example of a sympathetic dominant type: At the opposite end of the metabolic spectrum are people whose parasympathetic nervous system is dominant.

Extreme parasympathetic dominance such as may occur in someone genetically predisposed whose diet does not suit them can result in symptoms such as severe mental and physical lethargy, tendency to weight gain and allergic reactions, among other symptoms.

Sleep is the greatest regeneration period for the human organism, and it is the time where we can really accomplish some good high quality digestion, absorption, and cellular uptake of nutrients. Based on this, I eat the majority of my calories at night before I go to bed. The immune system responds to tissue trauma and to foreign invaders that can be found in the blood stream.

When trauma or a foreign invader is detected, the immune system sets off a cascade of events that results in white blood cell proliferation, inflammation, vasoconstriction, and a host of other chemical responses. This chemical cascade is fairly stereotypical and reproducible. The immune system response is one that is initiated because a threat has been presented to the body.

From an autonomics standpoint, the sympathetic nervous system is the division that is activated in response to threat. We must therefore ask the question, are there foods that create a threat to the body? The answer from an autonomics and immune system perspective is yes. Plants do not have any desire to provide other animals with nutrition.

Plants are trying to survive and pass their genes off to the next generation to keep their species alive on this planet. Plants have developed defensive strategies to be able to prevent their sex organs from being destroyed when an animal eats them.

The gluten protein is one such evolutionary plant based defense strategy. The human digestive processes are not capable of breaking down the gluten protein during digestion in the gut. This means that when we absorb foods with the gluten protein, the gluten casing is still intact when it enters the blood stream. Gluten is something that the human body perceives as being a foreign invader, and as a result, the immune system is activated, and a sympathetic state ensues.

Some of the signs and symptoms of an activated immune system include leaky gut syndrome, an increased prevalence of auto-immune conditions, inflammation, swelling, gas, and bloating. The medical community as well as many nutritionists seem to only focus on Celiac disease when it comes to gluten. This is a mistake because anything that is activating the sympathetic nervous system and the immune system can exert effects on any organ system in the body, and which organ system is most effected will be a highly individualistic experience.

Gluten is probably the most insulting inflammatory and immune system activating food choice for most humans; however, it is certainly not the only food choice that can set off this cascade. Dairy, legumes, and nightshades are also high up on the list of offending agents. So what do I do from a food choice perspective and a nutrient timing perspective to maximize my autonomic responses on a daily basis? First, I go with the bulletproof coffee BPC in the morning. Caffeine stimulates the sympathetic nervous system which gets me going.

The sympathetic nervous system, with its release of epinephrine and norepinephrine is a powerful agent for causing fat burning because these adrenaline based hormones activate hormone sensitive lipase which liberates fat from fat cells.

In addition to the fat mobilization properties coming from caffeine ingestion, the medium chain triglycerides MCTs that go into the BPC are optimal for cellular uptake at working cells that can burn fats.

MCTs do not oxidize within the blood vessel and therefore do not promote endothelial lining inflammation , and they readily cross the plasma membrane and can be quickly broken down to Acetyl CoA to enter the Krebs Cycle via Beta Oxidation inside the cell.

The protein that is added to the BPC provides an amino acid influx into cells for protein synthesis, which is nice for a strength athlete, and the ingestion of protein has a powerful satiety effect for preventing extreme food cravings during the course of the day. I also add cinnamon to my BPC due to the fact that this substance has been shown to have outstanding effects on sustaining appropriate blood glucose levels.

The second thing I do is I wait until late in the day to have a big meal, and this is the time when I deliver carbohydrates to my body. Typically I train during the middle of the day.

Yes, the research shows that there is a tremendous uptake of amino acids post workout within the anabolic window, but it also shows that there is a big drop off in amino acid uptake and protein synthesis later on. We had found that, children with anorexia nervosa had had significantly lower heart rates at night whilst in overweight children significantly higher heart rates.

Concomitant anorexia nervosa patients - children with constitutional thinness and the same body mass index BMI had a significantly higher SDNN standard deviation of all RR-intervals while overweight children had a significantly lower SDNN. Within all groups we had found a strong and significant correlation between SDNN and heart rate at night.

The obesity education program KIDS and the in hospital refeeding in anorexia nervosa patients significantly improved heart rate variability. Chi square test show a highly significant interrelationship between changes in BMI and changes in 24 hour heart rate. Micro nutrition and the role of omega- 3-fatty supplementation was measured and discussed.

Our data were compared with data of undernourished and stunted children from the literature.